Nearly two-thirds of Brits think the new Labour government only wants to help itself and its allies, as the party battles cronyism allegations.
Polling by More in Common found 63% of respondents believe Keir Starmer and his colleagues are most interested in aiding their own supporters.
Even 25% of 2024 Labour voters believe the new government is not putting ordinary people first.
In fact, 23% of Labour supporters say they believe the party is corrupt.
Overall, 42% of those polled think Labour and the Tories are no different on cronyism and corruption, while 66% thought the Conservatives are “very” or “somewhat” corrupt and 53% said the same for Labour.
The polling comes after a flurry of stories around Labour cronyism, including confirmation that a top party donor, Lord Alli, was granted unlimited access to No.10 shortly after the election.
The party has also been accused of appointing Labour loyalists to top jobs in the civil service too, after the PM cancelled former no.2 in the armed forces Gwyn Jenkins’ new job as national security adviser.
Labour donor Ian Corfield was also offered a temporary role as director at the Treasury, and is now working as an unpaid adviser.
Starmer hit out at the claims on Tuesday, saying he is “getting the best people into the best jobs” and that he would not “publicly discuss individual appointments”.
But More in Common’s survey, conducted between 24 and 27 August, also found Starmer’s approval rating has fallen to the lowest score the pollster has ever recorded, languishing at -16 overall.
That’s a sudden drop after he enjoyed a bounce in the opinion polls earlier this month over his handling of the far-right riots, taking it to +6 between August 16 and 19.
“This rapid fall in Starmer's personal ratings... should worry the new government.”
- Luke Tryl, More in Common
To make matters worse, not many are feeling positive that Labour will do a good job in government after their last few weeks.
In fact, 45% of Brits are less optimistic now than when the party first got into power at the start of July; only 25% are more optimistic, and 30% say it has made no difference.
While Labour’s plans to set up Great British Energy (+44), lift the onshore wind ban (+35), allow City Airport to expand (+19) and give public sector pay rises above inflation (+15) have been met with a positive reaction, other plans have triggered a net negative reaction.
Cancelling expensive infrastructure projects (+4) and the Rwanda plan (-1), means-testing the Winter Fuel Allowance (-33) and allowing the early release of some prisoners (-39), have all caused upset among voters.
More in Common’s director Luke Tryl told HuffPost UK: “Labour’s large majority was built on such a small share of the popular vote so a long honeymoon was unlikely but this rapid fall in Starmer’s personal ratings, along with perceptions of No10 cronyism, should worry the new government.
“It’s clear that the winter fuel allowance restrictions and early release of prisoners have gone down badly with the public and it will make landing the difficult decisions in the Autumn budget even harder.”
However, Tryl said there were “bright spots for the government”, including the positive response to some policies like GB Energy and onshore wind.
He continued: “While Starmer’s overall approval is underwater, he records positive scores for his handling of last month’s riots.
“Labour also remains significantly more popular than the Conservatives. The challenge for the party now is convincing the public they have a plan to turn around the country, rather than simply being better than the alternatives.”